US military commander in Iraq and Syria rejects GOP pledges to 'carpet-bomb' Isis

Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland said ‘indiscriminate’ bombing suggested by
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz goes against army values: ‘It matters how you win’

Spencer Ackerman
Monday 1 February 2016 19.32 GMT

The US military commander in charge of the Iraq-Syria war has tacitly rebuked pledges by leading Republican presidential contenders to “carpet-bomb” the Islamic State.

Though army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland did not call out Donald Trump and Ted Cruz by name, he rejected what he called “indiscriminate” bombing as illegal, immoral and un-American.

“We are bound by the laws of armed conflict and at the end of the day it doesn’t only matter whether or not you win, it matters how you win,” MacFarland told reporters on Monday.

As Iowans were set to caucus in the first presidential contest of 2016, MacFarland said “indiscriminate bombing, where we don’t care if we’re killing innocents or combatants, is just inconsistent with our values”, despite two major White House contenders adopting it as a central proposal against Isis.

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